Friday, September 15, 2006

Reggie Bush could be screwed. USC will be screwed. The upshot: SO WHAT NEXT?!

Congratulations to Yahoo! Sports on the site's biggest scoop ever and by far the biggest story of the day/week/month in sports:

An investigation that busts Reggie Bush for taking $100K in freebies from would-be (and will-be) marketing reps -- a follow-up to their original scoop a few months ago first peeling back the onion on this.

One of the most frustrating things about college sports scandals is that the player who does the damage is rarely punished – he's off to his millions in the NFL, virtually untouchable, leaving everyone else to deal with the crap.

Except in this case. There is something punitive that can be done to Bush that would hit him where it really hurts:

Take away his Heisman. Call it my "Heisman His Heisman" campaign.

He may have been the most exciting player ever in college football, but that doesn't mean he can't make himself ineligible for the Heisman Trophy.

I'd strip Bush of the trophy and give it to runner-up Vince Young. That's adding insult to injury. (And righting a wrong: The Rose Bowl proved that VY deserved the Heisman last year.)

The most fascinating upshot? That makes Auburn your 2004 national champ. (Remember: Auburn was unbeaten and controversially left out of the BCS title game. They ended the season No. 2 in the final BCS rankings. If I was Auburn, I would start this p.r. campaign RIGHT NOW.)

It's too bad that the rest of the team would have to pay for Bush's mistakes; that's perpetually the biggest injustice of NCAA sanctions.

(And speaking of sanctions, the NCAA has got to punish the program going forward, beyond retroactively stripping them of their national title. I'd take away two years of bowl eligibility. If I was the Pac-10, I'd throw in a year of not being allowed on TV. That's the 21st century equivalent of the old 1980s "death penalty." No TV? Nooo!!!)

(3) WHAT HAPPENS TO THE USC COACHES?

Yahoo has a report that the RBs coach knew about the Bush situation and didn't do anything about it. That guy better polish up his resume. Maybe Reggie can get him a job cleaning toilets for the Saints.

But I think it would be a mistake to let Pete Carroll off the hook, simply because he claims not to have known anything.

As the head of the program – its CEO, effectively – he is responsible for what happens. To think that he didn't keep tabs on his best player either shows remarkable willful negligence -- or remarkable willful stupidity. With either excuse, do you really want that guy coaching your team?

I'm sure USC will slap him on the wrist, but let's please not accept his "I didn't know nuthin'" plausible deniability. It was his JOB to keep his players – and program – clean.

Comments spin-off question: What's your take on this entire thing? If it's all true, what's the most appropriate punishment? How do you reconcile the inability to really punish Bush with all the weight of his infractions falling on the USC program? Where's USC's culpability in all this? What do you think of my "Strip-the-Heisman" idea?

66 comments:

If USC is forced to Forfeit its games, Oklahoma has to be the national champion because they are the 'winner' of the championship game. So if you want Auburn to be the national champion, you'll campaign against forfeiture.

While I like the Heisman forfeiture idea, I disagree that it's the only thing that will hurt him personally. He will be liable to other people if you forfeit their titles. and really, where does that leave his buddy Leinart?

I don't think USC should lose their previous wins/titles. Why punish the other players because one broke the rules. I think they should lose future bowl games, scholarships etc. And take Bush's Heisman.

Wouldn't it be great, if they found a way to make the players sign a code of conduct type thing in their contract. Then they could be held financially accountable even after they graduated. If they could do it, a nice punishment would be to make him give everything he took plus 15% to Charity or something.

Go ahead and strip his Heisman, he don't give a shit. Unless they find some criminal charges and threaten jail to Bush, I doubt he will care, he's getting paid now.

I don't understand why the school/team/coaches shouldn't be punished. While it's true that the school didn't directly contribute to Bush, where is the institutional control? If there is going to be an enforcement of 'amateur status' in college football, the college/team/coaches are accountable. In a perfect world, USC gets punished, which will make all schools look harder at their own athletes, and maybe get everything cleaned up.

That being said, I think it's bullshit how much money a school like USC/ND/OSU/etc. will make off of their athletes, with the athlete getting a tiny fraction of that back in scholarship money.

Here's the main problem with punishing the team for one player, half of the guys who are there now and will be for the next 3 years weren't playing with Bush. I am a HUGE supporter of taking away his Heisman. In addition, here's a perfect punishment for ALL of those who do such a thing, you have to pay your entire school tuition back. Every one of these players had a scholarship, so in reaction, they need to pay it all and lose the money.The coach should also receive some type of punishment as its his job to monitor his players. As for the team, yes, take away the National Championship, and ALL of their games. You want to send a message to the current players? Fine, don't take away their Bowl eligibility, but show that if they don't step forward with knowledge, they will lose everything they worked for AFTER the fact.

If the NCAA is the organization sanctioning Bush then this result is the only one that makes any sense. The NCAA doesn't award national championships (and doesn't even recognize them). They have no right to revoke an award given by the AP or USA Today. They also have nothing to do with the Heisman Trophy, and have no right to revoke that.

The only thing they have the authority to do is vacate USC's records and the sats from the individual player.

I have no idea if Bush actually received money. If he did, I don't care anyways. The bottom line is that the rule he alledgedly broke is complete bullshit. The NCAA can profit billions off of him and he cant get a loan?

By the way, THIS is why a playoff system is so necessary. The NCAA doesn't recognize USC's or any other school's national championships. This isn't like in basketball where the NCAA would have every right to vacate the titles.

On another note, did we HAVE to bother Bush with this so close to Sunday??? Saints have a chance to go 2-0, ride a actual WINNING streak heading into next weeks MNF game back at dome, AND avenge last year's Pack 52-3 drubbing on a poor homeless team. Yahoo! your not willing to wait until Tuesday Sept. 26 for this story shows your anti-Saint, and thereby anti-New Orleans stance. Haven't we been through enough?

You absolutely have to:1. Strip the 2004 National title2. Fine Reggie Bush, USC, and even the coaching staff (if there is evidence they did, in fact, know).3. At least 2 years Bowl probabtion, and last, but not least,4. Pull 4 scholarships per year for 4 years from the school's NCAA budget. Nothing causes more insanity for a D-1 program than losing scholarships that then all the school's sports can bitch about because you just know that USC would direct those losses on sports programs other than football (swimming anyone?). Make it a mess for everyone in the administration (AD, president, board, etc.) and that's more trouble than simply probating the football team.

If this is proven, his Heisman is gone. If the NCAA strips his eligibility, he has to lose his Heisman as only eligible players can win it. I'd love to see USC get punished severly here. No TV would be great, but I doubt it would happen. What would be just as painful, if not more so, would be a MAJOR reduction in scholarship and heavy recruiting restrictions.

Now it won't happen, but just imagine the fallout if they found something on Leinart and stripped him of his Heisman. His heisman would go to Adrian Peterson!! 1st.Freshman.Heisman.EVER!!

I've always wondered why some of this stuff is deemed illegal by the NCAA, but other similar things aren't illegal. For example, a multi-million dollar insurance policy was taken out on Willis McGahee's potential career before he played in his final game against Ohio State (and got hurt). No normal person would ever get this, so how is that legal in the NCAA if players aren't allowed to receive any special benefits?

It was just a matter of time before USC was caught. USC should have to forfeit all of Bush's games for his entire career and VY should get the Heisman which would be righting a wrong. Carroll needs to step up and say that he knew about these payments and face the punishment coming to him, but you know that he is going to throw an assistant under the bus for not telling him what was going on with his star player.

I was listening to Rome yesterday afternoon and Trojan fan and Husker fan were going back and forth about each other. One Trojan fan said that they "were better looking, richer and smarter" than Husker fan. Well they may be better looking and richer than us but when it comes to giving players money we are much, much smarter than the Trojans.

Biggest loser in all of this... Maurice Clarett. Didn't he get busted for basically the same things Bush is accused of doing. The only difference is Clarrett got busted to early on in his college career and not after it and now look at him. Punishing current USC players isn't the solution, and taking Bush's heisman is worthless (he was still the best on the field when he played - eligible or not). The NCAA rules need to be revisited.

No TV for USC, Dan? That's no big deal. They could produce and webstream their own games....that wouldn't be hard, and wouldn't count as TV, either. And, the novelty of the idea would make it buzzworthy. A major college using the Internet to sidestep sanctions....who wouldn't be curious enough to watch?

How can you take away the whole team's achievement because of one player's off field actions? What if it was a backup that played only a few plays all season? What about an active player that never saw a down? Where will the line be drawn?

If you want to take away his Heisman though, I guess I can see that. However, there would be a huge * next to Vince Young if he gets it.

Here's what I would do, if I were in charge of the various groups that would make these decisions:

1) Strip USC of its title, citing the "lack of institutional control" issue

2) Take Bush's Heisman away

3) Force USC to refund all TV and bowl monies received for games in which Bush played

4) Suspend Pete Carroll for one year

5) Force Bush to reimburse USC for all tuition, room and board, books, and other items covered by his scholarship on the basis that he breached his contract with USC.

6) Force USC to refund all donations (from alumni and corporations) made to the university during the time that Bush was at USC.

Ah ... you don't like #6? Think about it ... who are the people who pay these monies? Usually alums/boosters (usually). Would the university do a better job of policing this stuff if they knew that their endowment funds would be adversely affected?

Seriously. If USC knows that its alums have been giving in huge amounts because of the football team's recent success ... what incentive does USC have to police the boosters and such ... because no matter what the boosters do, the university still gets to keep the funds raised.

8) No TV for USC ... one year for every year Bush was on the team.

9) No bowls for USC ... one year for every year Bush was on the team.

10) Loss of scholarships equal to the number of years Bush was on the team, for the number of years he was on the team (so, if he was on the team three years, USC loses three scholarships each year for the next three years). These losses would be *cumulative* (so, by the end of the third year, USC would have lost six scholarships).

Ouch ... you don't like #10, either? Again, these penalties can only be penalties if they actually hurt the program.

What about the poor kids, you say? Well, what about 'em? They're the ones who make the deals and take the dosh ... if they care so little for the NCAA rules, why should the NCAA care about the program they soiled?

Respect and caring should be a two-way street. Diss the program by taking money/cars/whatever ... and then watch the program get trashed. Make the trickle-down effect such that there becomes a groundswell from bottom to top that hopefully changes the climate. Because the climate will never change from the top-down.

Ok, first, I agree that they should take away his Heisman (but I still think he deserved it over VY, Dan. Bush and Young were equally stellar all year. Young was just better in the Rose Bowl). I dont think that you can penalize the whole team though.

Also, I think anyone who believes that coaches or any other personell can keep tabs on players at all times is a little naive. These guys are college kids and there is no way, short of living with them, that you could know everything that they do.

All in all, I dont think this "scandal" is as serious as it's being made out to be, and I think the rule itself is a load of crap.

Whatever punishment is given, it should be tough and it should drive home the message that this crap will not be tolerated by the NCAA. Take the Heisman, take the national championship, impose some hefty sanctions on the program and the coaches. The "I wasn't aware of it" defense should not fly for Carroll. And it stinks to high heaven. I like the suggestion that Bush should repay his tuition to USC, although under his current income level its probably a week's pay for him.

The whole thing is just plain stupid. Bush and his family are stupid for taking the handouts. The coaching staff is stupid for looking the other way, if that's in fact what they did. The people that give these players money, cars, and whatever else are stupid. And they're all stupid on top of it for thinking they won't get caught. That's okay, I'll just add Bush to the list of athletes that I don't respect, right next to other athletes that took money and lied (Chris Webber anyone?) and those that are tainting sports with their 'roid use. Is it likely that this stuff happens more often than we care to know? Probably. But should it? Nope.

Waive the lost year of eligibility for players that want to transfer out, and leave this mess on the people it should be left on THE COACHES

as far as Mr. Diet Pepsi commercial is concerned.. yank his Heisman or whatever.. but a better course of action would be for USC to sue him for defamation of character and negligence, stating that he knew his actions could have dire consequences for the program, but he did it anyway

This is somewhat similar to Michigan's basketball scandal from the 1990's and look what happened to them. But, the difference is, the FBI got involved with the Michigan case because of Ed Martin, and that's the only way there was ever enough evidence to punish Michigan. It will be interesting to see what happens...

He broke a rule sure, but the rules are stupid. All of it originally exists so that schools can't bribe potential high-school and transfer athletes to go to their school.

Bush was already at USC once all this started, not to mention this was all froma marketing agent, NOT a USC booster AND none of this made him go to USC or made him win anything not to mention it surely didn't cause USC to win anything, why strip them of titles, they didn't cheat and neither did Bush.

Yeah according to the rules someone should be punished, but the rules are stupid... Money for a suit to the heisman ceremony... ye gods they helped him fit in with the other candidates damn him he should have shown up in a T-shirt and jeans.

Take his hiesman, but leave the national title alone. If these allegations are true (and let's face it, they probably are) then Bush should be held accountable. But I think it is unfair and irresponsible to the other kids who fought and played hard for that title to take it away. And it is also unfair, as a previous commenter stated, to punish kids who are there now that had nothing to with Bush or the previous titles.

I'll be deeply disappointed if the school is not severely punished. As an NC State Alumnus, I watched my school's basketball program be destroyed for a decade because a guy sold a pair of extra sneakers. Since then I've watched schools get busted handing out grades, paying players, blah blah blah... and they get a slap on the wrist. So I know that nothing significant will happen to Reggie Bush or USC. So what if they take away their National Championship? They are ALREADY claiming one that LSU actually won. What's one more?

seriously learn your facts people. If an agent pursues a player the school is not found liable under new NCAA rules unless it can be proven that there was complete negligence and how is that possible to prove. So the NCAA's only possibel action is to go after Bush.

You cannot take away a national title because they don't exist plain and simple.

The only school ever penalized for this is the 84 Florida team. They would have won the National Title if Charlie Pell's allegations hadn't come out before the end of the season. The result? A bowl ban, the coaches not voting for them at all, and 3rd in the AP. BYU won the National Title.

What does Reggie Bush care if they take away his heisman. That really means a lot in the NFL these days. Reggie will continue to make $$ no matter what they do. Like this is only happening at USC w/ Reggie Bush. You're telling me Vince Young was clean as a whistle.... They can take away wins, national championships, awards, etc but in the minds of the fans who saw those games we know who won. It's hard to change that after the fact. There will always atleast be an asterisk by those wins, championships, and awards. And we know how everyone likes asterisks in the record books. I'm sure VY really wants to go bragging that he won the heisman b/c Reggie was DQ'd. Look back at the days of Michigan and the Fab 5. When you look back do you really actually consider that they lost all of their games while Webber was there. No. You remember them as one of the best basketball teams of their time, albeit with a little cloud over them. The NCAA makes way too much $$ off these athletes as it is. We'd be naive to think this doesn't happen all over the country.

First off, before everyone gets carried away with stripping their national title, heisman, and dealth penalty (laughable!!), they would first have to prove that this happened and when. Do we even know that he took money during the championship season? Even if he did, Auburn or Oklahoma won't get the championship. Does anybody remember when Bama won the championship in 92 over Miami and then later Antonio Langham was found to be ineligible for taking cash. Their title was "stripped away" and they forfieted those games. But Miami wasn't given the title nor does anybody remember years later.

So keep dreaming if you think a title or Heisman will be given to someone else. And to answer Dan's question: "Would you want Carroll as your coach?" Um, yeah!! Feel free to send him to Knoxville to coach my Vols anytime USC doesn't want him.

You can take away everything, but no one will actually believe that Vince Young won the Heisman, and that Auburn/Oklahoma won the national title. This is not something like steroids where Bush cheated 'on the field.' Some marketing agency just paid so he and his family could make the necessary (albiet lush) travel arangements they couldn't previously afford.Bush won the Heisman regardless if the trophy sits in his house, and USC won the title even if the crystal football doesn't sit in their trophy case.

I'm jumping on the Stephen Laskaris bandwagon. He's got a fantastic idea. Although I don't care about sending Carroll to the Vols.

As punishment for the Reggie fiasco, Carroll should be sent to the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets.

USC can have Chan Gailey (that will completely destroy their program) and GT can win a national championship under Carroll.

Thanks Stephen for the fantastic idea. Although I'd sonner see nothing happen to anyone over this, and I don't understand how the NCAA can remove things they didn't give (like championships or trophys). I'd certainly approve of GT and USC switching coaches!!!

Everyone here is overacting. Taking away titles and the Heisman will prove what? Anything Bush did off the field had no bearing on game results. You really think VY and Okla. want paper trophy's and titles?

Also, this happened between Bush and Agents, not a booster. That's not lack of institutional control. These players aren't locked up and protected 24-7, SC can't control them all the time.

And I saw "fine Bush" - ha, that is moronic at best.

And before everyone denounces SC, go look under the rocks at EVERY major school.

No way should they should do that on the college level. College players being amateur, and going to the school of their choice based on that particular schools draw (not money) is half of college sports charm.

You want people jumping back and forth from college team to college team for bigger paychecks...then it would sucks just like the NBA/NFL do now.

They're not just getting a scholarship, they're getting experience and readied (is that a word) for the NBA/NFL where they will make millions and millions of dollars. Without the time they spent in college, would not make it at all. You think JJ Reddick could have made an NBA team before his 4 years at duke?

And how would ya stop with college, how about a HC player that fills the stands, should he/she get a percentage as well?

FWIW, Steven, Langham actually signed the contract with the agent AFTER the Sugar Bowl, so Alabama got to keep the 1992 National Title. They did, however, have to forfeit all of their 1993 games, except the Gator Bowl (since Langham had been kicked off the team).

FWIW, Steven, Langham actually signed the contract with the agent AFTER the Sugar Bowl, so Alabama got to keep the 1992 National Title. They did, however, have to forfeit all of their 1993 games, except the Gator Bowl (since Langham had been kicked off the team).

I don't know what to do here. I mean even if you strip his Heisman, do you think Bush will really care? Maybe he does and maybe he doesn't. This is the second go around with this story, and I want to see the proof before passing judgement.

As for USC, there is a problem with their instiutional controls. Between the Bush thing and the Jarrett thing and the Leinart thing, something is rotten in the state of Troy. I think they need a full scale, independent investigation of what is going on there. Then if they do find a lack of control and process or whatnot, drop the hammer on them (like what should have been done with CU). And I don't mean some slap on the wrist, "oh please don't do that again" type of punishment, IF there is a big problem there, it may be time to talk about an SMU type penalty. Upside is that it will make all the other programs get serious and clean up there act, well at least I hope it would.

Who really cares if Bush's family got some benefits? I don't. It broke no rules. If people want to do that, so be it.

I also think what happened with Jarret was absolutely ridiculous. How many college students get near-free rent cause they have a friend with a rich dad? Quite a few. But now, cause it's a football player, it can't happen.

The NCAA is a load of crap, no doubt about it. Screw the NCAA. College football players should get a stipend too, as they can barely get jobs now (Bomar not withstanding) without someone up their ass.

I think if this turns out to be true, he should be stripped of his Heisman. No this may not have any effect on his NFL career. But I think stripping him of Heisman will lead to one of those press conferences similar to Milli Vanilli's when they had to give up the grammy. Not that Reggie was as heinous as they were by far.

My ideal situation would involve a truly remorseful Reggie, (cause after all he doesn't really seem like an asshole.) I think he should go proactive, before people try to get legal on him. He should offer to pay for his tuition, etc while he was at USC, and also donate quite a few scholarships. Of course this probably won't happen, but it would be refreshing if it did.

Oh and Isaiah Thomas, your idea of paying college athletes is insane, no wonder my Knicks suck. Without the colleges the athletes would have nowhere to showcase their talents. If they help generate revenue for the program they are just in turn helping their NFL stock rise. The payoff comes when they sign those big fat contracts.

I'm all for a chick talking sports but "pay for a few scholarships" - come on. You people are acting like he we Rae Carruth.

My point isn't to pay all college athletes, but if a team generates MILLIONS for a university and doesn't get anything then maybe you pay them something. Maybe its minimum wage - like they get paid for hours practiced, get a % of the bowl payout - just something. Put it in a fund that they can't receive UNTIL THEY GRADUATE.

If you let the top programs (the ones that go to a bowl game ever year) give their players a % of the profit. Then you're ensuring that the top 10 or 15 teams remain the top 10 or 15 and ruining the chance of teams like my boys (ECU) of ever getting elite players.

Even if ya just pay them, bowl or not, it still helps the major programs because they have more money.

I agree that they should get something, it's bullshit that all that money is made off of them, but there isn't a way to fairly distribute amongst the teams, without killing "the little guys".

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